Deals
How Blackstone Landed $20 Billion From Saudis for New Fund
- Saudi sovereign wealth fund made record commitment last year
- Blackstone says fee reductions are customary for big investors
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When Saudi Arabia pledged as much as $20 billion to help Blackstone Group LP build the world’s largest infrastructure fund, the kingdom wanted to be rewarded for its unprecedented commitment.
One way Blackstone agreed to do just that: For every dollar that any other investor pays the asset manager to oversee its cash, Saudi Arabia gets to pay 15 cents less. That fee discount -- linked to a portion of revenue from other investors -- is just one of the breaks that the sovereign wealth fund won last year as Blackstone set out to amass a record $40 billion war chest, according to terms reviewed by Bloomberg and described by people with knowledge of the deal. In exchange, the Saudis will match other investors’ deposits in the fund.